Suspected Kpod users spotted in Aljunied and Choa Chu Kang: 'A fine is nothing to them'
Concern over Kpods grows as more suspected Kpods users are spotted in public.
Stomper VT shared a video of a man walking unsteadily towards the Aljunied MRT station on July 15.
"The guy was vaping openly," recounted the Stomper.
"I saw him from a distance stumbling and as he got closer, he vaped again. Shaking as he walked, he finally lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"This is my first time seeing it openly after reading so many reports. I just feel that, a fine is nothing to them as they seem so intoxicated. If the authorities are not bringing up the measures, I guess, we will see many cases like this on the road openly."
Stomper Lim said he has seen many students from ITE College West in Choa Chu Kang using drug-laced vapes.
He shared a video of a young man struggling to walk down steps outside Block 113 Teck Whye Lane opposite the campus on July 18. The young man eventually just sat down on the stairs.
"I hope to let more people know that this is happening in Singapore," said Lim.
Earlier this month, another Stomper shared a video of a youth clinging onto a van as he walked unsteadily around it before falling on his backside at a Serangoon junction on July 14.
On July 20, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said authorities are working to list etomidate, which is used in Kpods, under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), reported The Straits Times.
This would allow abusers and traffickers of Kpods to be given mandatory rehabilitation and jail time for repeat offenders.
Currently, etomidate is listed under the Poisons Act and abusers face only a fine. Sellers face possible jail time of up to two years.
Mr Ong said that previously, a vape would be used mainly for the delivery of nicotine.
"But today, it is a delivery device for a range of substances, from nicotine to psychoactive substances such as etomidate, to hardcore drugs that are illegal under the MDA as well," he said.
"When that is the situation, it requires a whole-of-government effort to enforce against this."
Etomidate is a medicinal ingredient used in clinical practice as an anaesthetic agent and is classified as a poison under the Poisons Act. It was designed to be injected directly into the veins under clinical supervision and was never meant to be inhaled directly into the lungs.
When vaped, it can trigger spasms, breathing difficulties, seizures and psychosis.
"I think there is strong suspicion that it is already causing deaths in Singapore, so it is a serious problem," added the minister.
